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BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biters swap hip vintage Ts instead of buying new ones, we'll avert the weight of 32 Kate Moss's in pesticides.
COCKTAIL FACT
In a 2006 poll, 80% of women surveyed admitted that they never wear 25% of the clothes in their closet.
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home › tip library › Biter Swap Party
Is your closet more full than a supermodel after a rice cake binge?
The Bite
Pick out the clothes you never wear, then throw a Biter Swap party, where all your friends trade (a.k.a. "recycle") clothes from their closets. Serve organic wine, swap 'til everyone drops and you've got yourself a contender for party of the year.The Benefits
- Free clothes, anyone?
- Eco-friendly. Swapping clothes is just another form of recycling.
- More closet space for you (or at least less closet space consumed by clothes you never wear).
- Like having free personal stylists for a night. Nobody knows your style sensibilities better than your BFFs.
Personally Speaking
Um, an excuse to drink wine, see friends, and get some new garb? Sign us up, please.Wanna Try?
4 easy steps to a bangin' Biter Swap:- Send tree-free invites to all your friends. Tell them each to bring 5 or so items of totally wearable clothing that they never wear.
- Stock your place with organic cocktails and wine.
- Set up a rack or heavy-duty clothesline in your "viewing area."
- Um, ambient lighting people, ambient lighting, please.
Jan 26,2007
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Fashion Free-For-All
My friend, Kris, is a fashion maven. Fortunately (for me), we have really similar body types (I covet her flat belly, and she sort of wants my thighs, but in general, we're pretty close).
This works very much in my favor (not so much in Kris's) since I benefit from her fashion sense in several ways:
1. I get her hand-me downs.
2. I let her "dress" me before big events. I get to spend all my time playing with my makeup (which I'd rather do), while she runs into her clown-car-feeling closet and just keeps coming out with more and better variations on the theme "little black dress with cleavage"
3. She's now helping me shop
All in all, I think that - if Kris is involved - I'm all for throwing a Biter swap party.
I'm sure SOMEONE wants my old college sweatshirts and those black leather pants from London...
-Heather... off to give thanks for good friends with better taste...
Biter Comments...
We've done it with clothing and various other things too. Most recent time was at a New Year's Eve party. I suggested it to the hostess and she was all for it, being a big-time swapper herself. I wanted to include crafting items because a lot of us make things, and you usually can't take that sort of thing to Salvation Army.
We structured it as crafts, books, and other miscellanea, as clothing would have taken too much space at this type of party, and invited people to bring things in the spirit of "Out with the Old, In with the New".
Absolutely marvelous time, and I brought home less than I took there.
And, most of the left over books went to a cancer fundraiser book sale that the hostess was going to a few days later.
There was some organic wine there, but also organic sparkling cider and juice as many of us don't drink much. And lots of yummy homemade food!
My friends and I have practiced the swapping party a few times and it works and is fun. We call it "borrow, have, trade day." You can let a good friend borrow something you love that maybe can't fit into right now, you know, the holiday five lbs. gain or the flu five lbs. loss, or the break-up ten lbs. loss, or pregnancy of course. 'Have' sort of speaks for itself. The items for trading are like having bargaining power. For example, maybe you've got something that used to be your favorite and you brought it because you haven't worn it in a year but can let go forever, so your girlfriend says "I'll trade you this for that" temporarily of course. But it never is, it's just an easier way to let go!
I just went to my first swap party on Sunday and wound up with a number of really great items. It's a bit odd wearing things that i know where inhabited by friends and acquaintances, but I love the green-ness (and free factor) of it all. Also it was great to see others excitedly take the stuff that had been languishing in my closet for a while. (It's an especially great way to get rid of things that don't seem Good Will appropriate, like evening dresses and sexy little tops and crystal-encrusted sandals . . )
This is a great idea, but all of my friends are different sizes (we're a bit of a motley crew). So once a season I go through my closet and weed out stuff I don't wear. I then post an ad on our local FreeCycle board and give the clothes away. And I feel good about giving to those who need it. Plus it makes more room in my closet..... :)
It's pretty much fate that my Mamas and i are having a gathering tomorrow and swapping clothes and that the Bite today was about just that! Fortunately for us we mostly all wear size 8.5 shoes and are about the same size... except for little julie. We're also swapping stories. Most of us got to know each other through someone else, but it's amazing how much we have in common! I've never had a big group of girlfriends, so swapping clothes, shoes, stories, friends... it's a beautiful thing! Plus, now I have girlfriends to receive the items of my closet-purging I go through every so often! Happy swapping... and stay warm!! It's freakin' cold out there!
My friend has a LEAP party every leap year - Ladies Exchanging Apparel Party. Everyone brings clothing that they want to recycle, including men's and children's clothing. The hostess furnished some of the refreshments, and everyone brought a little something to eat or drink. One year the party started around 6:00 p.m., and was going strong when I left at 11:00! We made new friends, got rid of things we didn't need, found new fashions, and after it all, the clothing was divided and donated to several local charities. Very fun and functional...
Cool!! that's great idea. But FYI.. there are tons of online shopping store where in you can purchase gifts online for a very low price. They have stuffs for all ages and sexes.
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Kristin Troska | January 26, 2007 at 06:32 AM